They hiked together for a small period of NOBO trek.
Posted on her page Sep 7.
"My babygirl Kaiha Bertollini l hiked 56 MILES TODAY TO PUT HER AHEAD OF PACE FOR A WORLD RECORD. ALL TO STAND UP AGAINST SEXUAL ASSAULT. WHO'S WITH US?!"
"He was a wise man who invented beer." Plato
Was she ever on the Ten Junk Miles podcast today? I looked and didn't see an episode with her.
The Jenny Meatballs page is a "public figure" page. It's not subject to the same rule personal Facebook pages are.Originally Posted by Uriah
you left to walk the appalachian trail
you can feel your heart as smooth as a snail
the mountains your darlings
but better to love than have something to scale
-Girlyman, "Hold It All At Bay"
So- I did hear back from Jenny/Kaiha and can update this in response to her statements on facebook.
Attachment 36362
As I said; in a fashion Kaiha was correct; She did not exit from Swift Run Gap into Waynesboro as reported.
She left the park via the Rockfish Gap exit of the park. I believe that is what led Kaiha to be confused and insist her hitch into Waynesboro originated and ended in the same spot.
She was also further confused about needing a hitch. I'm not sure if she didn't understand she could walk skyline drive south then take backroads into town. I believe she was under the (correct) impression that hitching/walking on 64 is illegal. It is also possible (though I didn't confirm) that the waysides were closed for the season or had limited services but that is not too relevant.
So I once more reached out to Billie Beartrap to clarify and give her the benefit of the doubt.
I incorrectly posted/implied that they left the park at Swift Run Gap and drove to Waynesboro.
Unfortunately for Kaiha this only gets worse.
1-Billie was out for the day with his son, they entered the park at Front Royal, enjoyed the park and encountered Kaiha on skyline drive in the vicinity of Swift Run Gap. She then entered their vehicle and together they drove the remainder of skyline drive and exited the park. Notable for Billie because the Front Royal station was unmanned and he chose to turn around at the Rockfish Gap pay station to pay his day use fee and support the park.
So not only did Billie give Kaiha a ride, he was actually the one yellow blazing Kaiha through this section of trail.
There was some mild debate/opening for Kaiha that if they left the park from Swift Run- she could have returned there and hiked the miles. But as that distance was covered in Billie's vehicle, that scenario is improbable.
Due to the Facebook fiasco he experienced, the rest of the many pictures he shared were bumped from my facebook- but I had already uploaded his gate receipt and seen the aforementioned video. As he had issues and the photos are of his son also- they serve no purpose other than to fully back up a detailed encounter that included personal details about Kaiha not known to the general public or previously shared. In short; Will is about the most credible witness you could ask for and should suffer no further for his efforts.
2-Even if we were to discount Will's story and assume that she did not yellow blaze any portion of the park. I showed a few posts back that Kaiha would have needed to post a near world record time in the women's 50 mile to arrive at the Rockfish Gap pay station in time for Billie to have paid his gate fee and given her a ride on the "unwalkable" roads to the hostel she stayed at.
3-From there; the rest of the day was spent at the hostel or in town. I don't think we need to grill the hostel owner on exactly what transpired during that time as it is irrelevant. I suppose in the deepest fantasy she could have realized her error and left the hostel, set that 50 mile record to make up the section and returned to the hostel without his knowledge.
4-The hostel owner reports dropping her at the wooden rail along skyline drive at 6:00 am and that photo has already been posted. Kaiha confirms as well that this is what happened. From there she resumed her journey southbound.
Whether ignorance, misfortune, or simple error... Kaiha agrees that she took a ride from the Rockfish Gap pay station, to town, then back to the guardrail location. Depending on if you use Google earth or the guidebook... this results in skipping the section of skyline drive from the pay station to the guardrail where the trail exits skyline drive to the east. Kaiha vehemently argued that it was illegal to walk on this section of road, so there is no reason to believe she would have attempted to walk it.
Again, it is not critical if it is a quarter mile or half mile between these two points. This distance was skipped as well.
So even if we were to totally discount what appears to be a very accurate eye-witness account of yellow blazing within Shennandoah Park, Kaiha has inadvertently identified a section of trail that was missed in the course of these two hitches and stands as her own eye-witness to missing this section.
As all but Jenny and Kaiha seem to know- skipping any portion of the official trail invalidates an FKT claim.
So 45.5 miles or .25-.5 miles depending on who you'd like to believe still results in a section of trail missed.
Hitching invalidates any claim to Heather "Anish" Anderson's Self-Supported FKT.
It also ends any further debate regarding support or assistance from Jenny, trail angels leaving her items, etc. There is no possible way to claim a self-supported effort- so no reason to disprove one.
I would mildly (and as damned respectfully as a liar like me can manage) disagree with Mr. Bakwin; unless you added a new category specifically for "thru-hiker style on the AT" Matt Kirk, Heather Anderson and Scott Williamson have clearly set precedents that self-supported hikes on the AT and PCT include the provision "not to enter a vehicle for any reason". If a thru-hiker style record were established, it would be held by Joey Camps- but I believe that issue was settled at that time and this rule/guideline should now be considered standard. If you would like to award Joey the honor, he'd be tickled to the tips of his pink tank top- but even he conceded that it was best to honor those who came before him so I think it best to discount any allowances for vehicles/hitches.
Skipping any portion of the official AT route invalidates any claim to Karl "Speedgoat" Meltzer's Supported FKT.
I invited them to share any claims they would care to make directly with Peter Bakwin who has offered on his site to review it fairly.
Others have also expanded the search and likely could point out other questionable areas. During facebook exchanges today I was shown at least one credible photo not yet posted of a hitch at Newfound Gap, but as sharing facebook names has already caused one trail angel problems I see no reason to do so to another.
There is a gentleman over at Peter Bakwin's site who has put together a fairly good time line based on information gleaned. While I did not review it in depth it appears several sections of trail were covered in exceedingly fast times including what appears to be a claimed 70 MPD pace in the final 9 days.
I suppose that this particular stretch- 9/3-9/5 could be flushed out one day in either direction to counter what would likely be a rebuttal to this information. I would imagine that another section could also be found with similar issues...
Newfound Gap strikes me as a horrible place for someone who thought they were going self-supported to even consider a resupply. But of course is a great place for the average hiker to hitch to town or for a support crew to meet you. If you're ripping off 70's- why not simply resupply at Standing Bear with a day or so of food and nearly one-shot the park and supplement with some snacks at Fontana.
Free country I suppose- but I don't see any reason to go further other than to discourage any future attempts from making a similar claim or to enjoy piecing together a puzzle. Though I think you'll find that whoever put it together the first time around forgot a to put a few pieces in the box and you'll end up frustrated you can't finish it.
Last edited by Just Bill; 09-23-2016 at 00:17.
IMG_3648.JPG
Didn't look like this went right- try again.
and one more-
rockfish gap.jpg
13590274_10208082098427448_4155830489800267233_n.jpg13754587_10208227910112649_675469362907358283_n.jpg13932712_10208317316467752_4176016500087273927_n.jpg14361247_10208716660691108_7286201506300000079_o.jpg
Ok this has nothing to do with her FKT but I just noticed something on her facebook page. Her tattooed shoulder changes sides? Might be lots of mirrored shots?
Last edited by jjozgrunt; 09-23-2016 at 01:13.
"He was a wise man who invented beer." Plato
I'm sure someone can explain it better than I can, but for instance, I can take a selfie with my iPhone or laptop and it does that mirror image thing where sides change. Try it with your phone. Hold your left hand up and take a selfie. In the pic, it appears that your right hand is up instead.
When you take a 'selfie' on a smart phone, it reverses the image. Nothing unusual here (finally)
Well. ****. Better luck next time I guess? Good research Just Bill.
I don't believe she did a 50 or 70 mile day. I don't believe she beat Karl, Scott, and Anish's records. There's no GPS data and the her claims border on absurdity. There's so much data contradicting this claim, and she clearly has no proof AT ALL that she's legit.
She's got issues that go far deeper than being a liar. I feel bad for her and her child, but hopefully she's home doing the most noble job she has, taking care of her child. This whole "hike the trail for a cause" mentality is overrated. It seems like the Appalachian Trail has become a commodity where every wannabe can use it as a podium to push their bull****. The only one I respect are the soldiers walking off the war.
"Though I have lost the intimacy with the seasons since my hike, I retain the sense of perfect order, of graceful succession and surrender, and of the bold brilliance of fall leaves as they yield to death." - David Brill
Not a very popular opinion, but I agree. The Appalachian Trail has been held hostage for some time, it's been bottled and bobble headed, condensed and placed on display, it is a source of commerce for many and is being loved to death.
mini rant over.
The receipt for the Park fee was issued at 10:47 AM, presumably at Rockfish Gap as they are leaving the Park. Too bad we don't have a time stamp for the picture of Kaiha getting into the car in # 138. Knowing when that was would nail the timeline down.
Jenny Carrington
Regarding that 1/4-1/2 mile section between the Rockfish Gap pay station and the guardrail section where the picture was taken the next morning:
- It is most definitely NOT illegal to walk the road there.
- There is no reason to walk the road there. It's been awhile since I've hiked by there on the trail but it's so close to the road that you could easily scramble up to the trail and walk that distance on trail. She would've had to have done the same thing to get off the trail there and down to the aid station. The only place you have to walk the road is at a very small parking area and then the bridge over I-64 and 250.
- There is no reason her ride the next morning couldn't have driven up to the pay station and dropped her there so she could start her hike that day from the same place she thinks she stopped off.
It's kind of too bad Billie didn't exit the park at Swift Run Gap and drive to Waynesboro via 340, which is certainly a faster route (mostly 55mph instead of 35mph), but he did what did, and good for him for giving a hiker a ride. I do that too, when I see a hiker in need at Rockfish or Reed's Gap.
At first I was angry that someone was so outlandishly fraudulent to deceive us, not to mention discredit Karl and the others
But now I think she is genuinely disturbed and probably believes herself. Not to mention there is probably someone else filling her head with all sorts of nonsense
I believe she probably hiked some monster distances without sleep. I also believe she (mostly) did a yo-yo of sorts. Hey, that's more than I've done. Her cause would have been better served by letting these accomplishments stand on their own.
If Will wanted to chime in- up to him.
As I said, he sent me several pictures and mentioned here that his son took a longer video during their ride.
He recounted at least a few detailed conversations and reported they were together for roughly 45-60 minutes (going by memory as our FB conversation went poof).
Call it roughly 10:15 pickup, 10:47 at the gate (billie recounted a brief conversation with the ranger), and 11:05 drop off at Stanimals hostel.
But I think he's done enough as it doesn't matter.
Kaiha shouldn't have been on skyline drive trying to hitch- so Billie should not have encountered her anywhere inside the park.
He reports that he did, his reports and pics confirm, so no matter how many miles it was exactly, she rode in his car within the boundaries of the Shennies Park.
If she considered it unwalkable- she should have been at the southern boundary thumbing for a ride if she planned to complete every inch of trail. Or dropped at the pay station as another pointed out. Perhaps it no longer is the case, or simply missing from her Guthook App- but the route from the park to the tourist trailer up the hill and the free phone call to an angel for a ride to town was documented in AWOL's guide when I went through on a section there and I recall the instructions and kindness of the people of Waynesboro regarding this accommodation as there is no clean way to get from there to town. As is the free shower and stay at the Y; which any broke as a joke hiker would likely take advantage of if still available. No offense to Stanimal's hostel; but the only reason for her to stay there would be to take advantage of an early morning ride back to the trail. At 6:00 am I would imagine it would have been safe enough for a determined and very tough chick to complete that short bit of road walk even if it was illegal. Hell, how many times did Scott Williamson enter closed sections of trail "illegally"... that dude figuratively walked through the flames of hell to adhere to the official route on his attempts.
While one may call it a technicality picking on her for the relatively short span from pay booth to wood rail... it's an FKT not a casual hike, and even so- any casual hiking paced purist would cry foul for taking the wrong path out of a shelter and skipping 100' of trail, let alone a longer distance during a resupply. So even "thru-hiker style" as Peter mentioned on her hike is discounted, as she does not even meet those standards.
So she skipped 40 miles or less than a half mile? This mirror image conspiracy theory is too funny.
Posting Permissions
